“Oh no, I did it again!”
by Roger Pook
I`ll admit that I`ve sometimes done something I really didn`t want to do. It was automatic, without thinking, and suddenly I realised “Oh no, I did it again! Why didn`t I see this coming? Why didn`t my conscience remind me? Why can`t I get free from this habit?”
There are many reasons for these so-called “besetting sins”. It might be an inherited weakness, an unhealed area of our life, or some other spiritual influence. Personal prayer ministry will bring an answer to all of these problems. In the meantime however, we need the opportunity to use our will and fight against the temptation – but how can we do this if we don`t see it coming?
One way is to make a covenant with God. It could work something like this. If ever God sees us about to fall automatically into some sinful activity, we give him permission to remind us of what we`re doing and show us our sin, before we start. Then our side of the covenant is to agree to exercise our will to fight against the temptation, now that we have seen it.
I believe that God loves this kind of covenant. It can help us to escape from Satan`s deception and bring our life into God`s order, using our sanctified will. Satan will not be able to creep up on us unawares. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians, “I don`t want Satan to outwit us. After all, we are not ignorant about Satan`s scheming.” (2 Corinthians 2:11). If we are not ignorant, we can claim God`s promised “way of escape”.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I make this covenant agreement with You. If you see that I am about to fall again into a habitual sin, I give You permission to remind me of what I am about to do. For my part, I promise to use my will to fight against the temptation and find Your way of escape. Thank You for Your great love for me! Amen.
Roger Pook For 21 years Roger Pook and his wife Christine served in Central and Eastern Europe, based in Hungary at the Úr Rétje centre of Ellel Ministries. From there they travelled and ministered across the length and breadth of the former communist world. In 2018 Roger retired as Regional Director and they now live back in the UK, where Roger still serves on the Executive Leadership and as a trustee of The Christian Trust. They still travel for the Kingdom!
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